Web Content Viewer (JSR 286)

Web Content Viewer (JSR 286)

Constituent Update - June 14, 2013

Registration Open for RCC Dialogue on June 20

The U.S.-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) is holding an RCC Stakeholder Dialogue Session to solicit input from stakeholders across the range of sectors included in the RCC effort. FSIS published news of this event in last week’s Constituent Update. The stakeholder event will be held in Washington, D.C., on June 20, 2013, at the Embassy of Canada and is designed to review progress on the implementation of the RCC Joint Action Plan, including FSIS initiatives, and seek input on the next phase of regulatory cooperation.

For further information about the RCC and this stakeholder event, visit www.trade.gov/rcc/. Registration slots were limited and may no longer be available for this event. However, post-event webinars of the discussions will be made available online, and additional options to provide feedback will also be made available in the near future.

A copy of the RCC Action Plan, 2012 RCC Progress Report, individual sector work plans and other RCC related information is available at www.trade.gov/rcc/. FSIS- and USDA- related questions, comments and concerns relative to the RCC initiatives and the stakeholder meeting can also be addressed to RCC-BtB@one.usda.gov. For those unable to attend the June 20 stakeholder meetings, comments for FSIS and other USDA agencies may be directed to this same address for review.

IFSAC To Hold Webinar

The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration (IFSAC) is sponsoring a webinar on Tuesday, June 18, 2013, from 4:00-5:00 PM EDT. The webinar will describe IFSAC’s activities and provide an update on its project to improve classification of foods into different categories for attribution analysis.

Preventing foodborne illness is a goal FSIS shares with other agencies and organizations, and those food safety partners can contribute needed expertise and resources to this common effort. For this reason, FSIS established goals in the agency’s 2011-2016 Strategic Plan to both reduce foodborne illness from FSIS-regulated products and strengthen collaboration among internal and external stakeholders to prevent foodborne illness (Goals 1 and 4, respectively).

In working to meet this goal, FSIS, FDA and CDC, formed IFSAC in 2011. This tri-agency analytic collaboration is focused on projects related to foodborne illness source attribution, which includes improving the data and methods used to estimate the proportion of foodborne illnesses that are caused by specific contaminated foods. Improving those estimates will improve FSIS’ ability to measure and assess its effectiveness on reducing foodborne illness.

USDA’s Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety in conjunction with FSIS is sponsoring a public meeting to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items, and draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 36th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), which will be held in Rome, Italy, July 1-5, 2013.

The public meeting will be held June 18, 2013, from 1 to 4 p.m. at USDA headquarters, The Jamie L. Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Room 107-A, Washington, DC 20250.

On May 29, FSIS announced in the Federal Register the availability of updated guidance for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems validation. In addition, FSIS announced that it will sponsor a public meeting in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2013, to review the guidance document.

The public meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Patriots Plaza III, First Floor Auditorium, 355 E Street, SW, Washington, D.C. Due to increased security measures, all persons wishing to attend must RSVP in advance.

Find food safety information for at-risk people, along with tips and resources to keep consumers and other interested groups informed of the latest agency news and events. Follow FSIS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/USDAFoodSafety.